First, let me start by saying that if you're associated with MMOFringe or another internet community characterized by SOE-hate: you will not enjoy this, and it will not be over quickly.
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Star Wars: Galaxies. Ah, that name conjures up impassioned flame wars throughout the known Internet. Some people have grown to utterly despise any mention of the game, and positive mentions make them absolutely livid.
A rare few others still drink the SOE kool-aid and believe even the NGE launch itself was a good thing.
Make no mistake: while I hated the NGE less than most, I still believe that the NGE was one of the worst things to ever happen to Galaxies. It took a fabulously rich skill system and reduced it to nine cookie cutter classes, none of which had any significant playability.
However, a great deal of time has passed since that horrible day, and much has changed for the better.
Star Wars: Galaxies is likely the single best MMORPG currently in existence for three primary reasons:

[*]The Storyteller System
[*]The Chronicle System

The crafting system

Ultimately, Galaxies is the richest and most robust sandbox MMORPG available. Ryzom is the only other MMO to even come close to this.
The Storyteller system of Galaxies allows its players to weave intricate and exciting stories for each other. It also allows players to set up some fantastic player events, such as beautiful in-game weddings that don't get ruined by random open PvP.
The new Chronicle system lets players create their own quests, complete with experience and unique loot rewards. Granted, other games (notably City of Heroes) have this feature, but their implementations don't mesh nearly as well with the other game systems as the Chronicle system does with Galaxies' Storyteller system.
Lastly, the crafting system is the second most robust one in any game. The only crafting system that tops Galaxies' is Saga of Ryzom's, but Ryzom's system is hampered by a more time-consuming gathering mechanism. Ultimately, the Galaxies system wins out overall.
In addition, a great deal has changed about the game since the NGE that has made it, in my opinion, more fun than pre-NGE. As an example of this, update 12 added a huge number of new droids and effectively gave us a droid commander role, in addition to a wealth of cybernetics that made the original measly few look like an afterthought.
If you haven't played in a long time, now is a great time to come back.
A word of warning, however - a number of servers are going away permanently come October 15th. If you're on one of them, you will need to do a (free) character transfer. The good news, however, is that the population of the remaining servers is visibly at the same levels (or higher) as just prior to the NGE.
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In closing, I'd just like to say this: whatever evil SOE has done to the game with the NGE, they've managed to pull it back from the abyss and turn Galaxies into a really great sandbox MMORPG.

No they have not. Stop the lies and manipulaiton and distortion of reality to try and lure in anyone who has not experienced that piece of simplified garbage yet. Please...

Originally posted by Riceman

In closing, I'd just like to say this: whatever evil SOE has done to the game with the NGE, they've managed to pull it back from the abyss and turn Galaxies into a really great sandbox MMORPG.

Tell me you're taking shrooms.

I think this site needs a forum dedicated to NGE whiners only. Then the people that actually play SWG will have a place to discuss their game without the thread sifting.

Originally posted by grandpagamer

I think this site needs a forum dedicated to NGE whiners only. Then the people that actually play SWG will have a place to discuss their game without the thread sifting.

There is. It's the Veterans' Refuge forum.

*mod edit*

 best sandbox ,maybe  but please at lease remove the mmorpg from your post 

i can believe swg is the best sandbox game period .

but its not the best mmorpg out there lol ,there are ton of better mmorpg 

even in soe own stable everquest 2 is a way better mmorpg then swg 

but i will conceide swg might be the best sandbox game

I think the numbers tell a different story. If SWG was so great today, they would be expanding instead of reducing servers.

Actually, I enjoyed the post immensly and yes, I am Fringe. While I have, in the past, compared PreCU to Ryzom in terms of sandbox - I never made the jump to the latest additions which follows Ryzom's path right up to the point it hit the brink. Fascinating, actually. Well worthy of some kind of study as to why player made content features appear at the end of a game' s life cycle.

That being said, Ring of Ryzom was by far the more superior story telling system. It just happened to come in a bit too late to save the game. In comparison though overall, Ryzom is the best pure sandbox mmo out there at this time. NGE (as you pointed out) was a mistake that has resulted in the game having to rebuild itself out of the ashes. What has resulted in a long term cobbling together of various systems, features and parts. Its a pseudo frankenstein of an mmo that has some great ideas now at heart that would have made the old game better but at this time simply reward the current playerbase little for their patience, money and time these last bit of years.

I have never played it, therefore I would not be able to comment about it. I have seen alot of flaming on it over the years though.

Does it have a free trial ? That would be the only way I would try it ( since you said the servers are merging ) 

Originally posted by Murashu

I think the numbers tell a different story. If SWG was so great today, they would be expanding instead of reducing servers.

As long as there is a perceivably high population density, it doesn't matter who's winning the popularity contest.

As for EQ2 being better than Galaxies... well, that entirely depends on what you want from an MMORPG. For me, at least, Galaxies delivers most everything I want in a game. EQ2 has some great features, but it's not among my favorite games.

Originally posted by Harafnir

No they have not. Stop the lies and manipulaiton and distortion of reality to try and lure in anyone who has not experienced that piece of simplified garbage yet. Please...

Agreed. They started to pull it back after NGE, but at some point they just let it fall right back in and are letting it sink into oblivion.

If you dont have a Full +35 Suit you cant compete.

If you dont have a 5 piece Heroics Jewelery Set you cant compete.

If you dont have a full 7 rows (64) Buffs stacked you cant compete.

Not to mention the F'n stupid Trading Card Game and the completely ghey Non-Starwarsy Holiday Festivals (flying pink Ewoks /facepalm)

Top it off with the fact that there is still no real Galactic Civil War!!!

The OP calls it 'Sandbox"??? The only thing thats still "sandbox" is the Housing/City System.

Sure, Crafting is still pretty good. The Chronicles System is kinda nice. Storyteller isnt bad, but not near as cool as Pex Events

The rest of the game is nothing but a linear themepark treadmill pile'o'crap.

Originally posted by kefkah

Actually, I enjoyed the post immensly and yes, I am Fringe. While I have, in the past, compared PreCU to Ryzom in terms of sandbox - I never made the jump to the latest additions which follows Ryzom's path right up to the point it hit the brink. Fascinating, actually. Well worthy of some kind of study as to why player made content features appear at the end of a game' s life cycle.

 

That being said, Ring of Ryzom was by far the more superior story telling system. It just happened to come in a bit too late to save the game. In comparison though overall, Ryzom is the best pure sandbox mmo out there at this time. NGE (as you pointed out) was a mistake that has resulted in the game having to rebuild itself out of the ashes. What has resulted in a long term cobbling together of various systems, features and parts. Its a pseudo frankenstein of an mmo that has some great ideas now at heart that would have made the old game better but at this time simply reward the current playerbase little for their patience, money and time these last bit of years.

 

I have to admit I was a bit surprised to see such a lucid and well-thought-out reply from a Fringer, particularly since it's rancor-free (rancor not referring to the arachno-crustaceans of SW lore...).

I also have to admit that I have not played Ryzom since its original host company died, taking the live servers with it. Has it changed much?

Well written post with citations backing the assertation.

Can't disagree as I've never played SWG, so I'll have to stick with my home team (EVE).

But glad to hear the game has still got some fun in it for those willing to take the plunge.

Originally posted by Riceman 

1. The Storyteller System
2. The Chronicle System
3. The crafting system

All three existed before the NGE, in SWG Pre-CU.

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Originally posted by Harafnir

No they have not. Stop the lies and manipulaiton and distortion of reality to try and lure in anyone who has not experienced that piece of simplified garbage yet. Please...

Agreed. They started to pull it back after NGE, but at some point they just let it fall right back in and are letting it sink into oblivion.

If you dont have a Full +35 Suit you cant compete.

If you dont have a 5 piece Heroics Jewelery Set you cant compete.

If you dont have a full 7 rows (64) Buffs stacked you cant compete.

Not to mention the F'n stupid Trading Card Game and the completely ghey Non-Starwarsy Holiday Festivals (flying pink Ewoks /facepalm)

Top it off with the fact that there is still no real Galactic Civil War!!!

The OP calls it 'Sandbox"??? The only thing thats still "sandbox" is the Housing/City System.

Sure, Crafting is still pretty good. The Chronicles System is kinda nice. Storyteller isnt bad, but not near as cool as Pex Events

The rest of the game is nothing but a linear themepark treadmill pile'o'crap.

 

This reads like a post by someone who's entirely concerned with PvP and not PvE.

Fair enough. PvP isn't particularly great in Galaxies, and is one of the areas where it desperately needs improvement.

But as for me... I'm a PvE player, and I couldn't care less about the PvP side of things.

--

As for EVE Online.... last time I played the trial for that game, the tutorial nearly bored me to death, and then I was fairly lost as to what to do with my time.

I'm willing to give it another shot, though, so I'm going to see if I can find a decent newbie guide to EVE somewhere.

When it came back online, I played for a bit. The playerbase was as friendly as ever (right up there with LOTR) but seeing as the new company was just trying to make it all work again - improvements were sparse. I rediscovered how much work it was to craft and how deadly the world was when you are low level and alone. This was offset a bit with the other players constantly wanting to take the lot of us out and help us level and learn to play.

Without the previous development support, the true sandbox nature of the game shines through. That and the devotion of the playerbase that returned to their alternate virtual home. It will never rise much above what it is now but then again, I don't really hear the players griping about that. They are seemingly content with the toolsets and the systems that are in place. Anything else is icing on the cake.

Originally posted by Riceman

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Originally posted by Harafnir

No they have not. Stop the lies and manipulaiton and distortion of reality to try and lure in anyone who has not experienced that piece of simplified garbage yet. Please...

Agreed. They started to pull it back after NGE, but at some point they just let it fall right back in and are letting it sink into oblivion.

If you dont have a Full +35 Suit you cant compete.

If you dont have a 5 piece Heroics Jewelery Set you cant compete.

If you dont have a full 7 rows (64) Buffs stacked you cant compete.

Not to mention the F'n stupid Trading Card Game and the completely ghey Non-Starwarsy Holiday Festivals (flying pink Ewoks /facepalm)

Top it off with the fact that there is still no real Galactic Civil War!!!

The OP calls it 'Sandbox"??? The only thing thats still "sandbox" is the Housing/City System.

Sure, Crafting is still pretty good. The Chronicles System is kinda nice. Storyteller isnt bad, but not near as cool as Pex Events

The rest of the game is nothing but a linear themepark treadmill pile'o'crap.

 

This reads like a post by someone who's entirely concerned with PvP and not PvE.

Fair enough. PvP isn't particularly great in Galaxies, and is one of the areas where it desperately needs improvement.

But as for me... I'm a PvE player, and I couldn't care less about the PvP side of things.

So change the title to "Why Galaxies may possibly be the best "sandbox" "PvE" MMORPG out there right now." In my opinion any MMO that doesn't serve a good balance of PvE and PvP sucks.

Originally posted by Riceman

As for EVE Online.... last time I played the trial for that game, the tutorial nearly bored me to death, and then I was fairly lost as to what to do with my time.

I'm willing to give it another shot, though, so I'm going to see if I can find a decent newbie guide to EVE somewhere.

I don't want to derail your trhead, so here's just one good reference that might give you a better idea.

eve.battleclinic.com/guide/3510-BattleClinic-s-EVE-New-Player-Guide.html

 the one that posted about being no war in swg ,i heard on their live event at pax (ustream soe channel)

that they ll add it if i recal exp 14 trough 16 cant recall wich since swg was never my cup of tea

but they did anounce it at pax  and they were live at ustream (lets say i was surprised)

Originally posted by Riceman

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Originally posted by Harafnir

No they have not. Stop the lies and manipulaiton and distortion of reality to try and lure in anyone who has not experienced that piece of simplified garbage yet. Please...

Agreed. They started to pull it back after NGE, but at some point they just let it fall right back in and are letting it sink into oblivion.

If you dont have a Full +35 Suit you cant compete.

If you dont have a 5 piece Heroics Jewelery Set you cant compete.

If you dont have a full 7 rows (64) Buffs stacked you cant compete.

Not to mention the F'n stupid Trading Card Game and the completely ghey Non-Starwarsy Holiday Festivals (flying pink Ewoks /facepalm)

Top it off with the fact that there is still no real Galactic Civil War!!!

The OP calls it 'Sandbox"??? The only thing thats still "sandbox" is the Housing/City System.

Sure, Crafting is still pretty good. The Chronicles System is kinda nice. Storyteller isnt bad, but not near as cool as Pex Events

The rest of the game is nothing but a linear themepark treadmill pile'o'crap.

 

This reads like a post by someone who's entirely concerned with PvP and not PvE.

Fair enough. PvP isn't particularly great in Galaxies, and is one of the areas where it desperately needs improvement.

But as for me... I'm a PvE player, and I couldn't care less about the PvP side of things

No actually I was more into PvE than PvP. Personally I think PvP in SWG sucks.

But once you hit 90 there are only 2 things you can do. Heroics and PvP. (Running a Storyteller/Chronicles Scenario everyday gets boring quick. Especially if you have a Storyteller/Chronicles Master that cant write to save his life). The only things left are Cybering in the Cantina or Decoing your House/City.

Try doing Heroics without a full 35 suit or fully buffed. Besides IG-88 or Tusken, Heroics are extremely difficult until you complete enough of them to start getting your Jewelery. Besides, doing Heroics gets boring fast as well. You can only do them so many times before you want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon. Especially Hoth. Worst Heroic Ever!